


Awakened

by stellacanta



Series: The Feeling When Your Heart's Been Torn Out [1]
Category: Octopath Traveler (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-21
Updated: 2019-03-24
Packaged: 2019-10-14 02:04:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17499515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stellacanta/pseuds/stellacanta
Summary: Therion had been given a job, just for himself. So when he shows up at an airfield and sees six other people on the plane, he knows something is up.





	1. Chapter 1

Therion had no clue what the job he had been given involved, but he decided he already didn’t like it when he hopped on the military plane that was supposed to take him to some top secret location and saw six other people on it. “What the hell,” he gritted out as he let his bag fall to the floor. 

He quickly picked it up when one of their “chaperones” cleared his throat and looked at him. With disgust, he took an empty seat next to a guy in an actual sweater and shirt combo that looked like he hadn’t done any hard work a day in his life. “So do you have where we’re headed or what this job is for?” The guy didn’t look up from the book that he was reading and just muttered something quietly under his breath. He glared at the guy. What the fuck? Did the guy not know how questions worked?

Across from him he heard someone speak. “No one knows actually.” Therion turned to face a woman in a halter dress that seemed to be barely enough to keep her warm. “We were just told to show up at a certain place at a certain time. The plane’s stopped a few times to pick up a few people, but-” The woman shrugged. “-beyond that, I don’t know anything.”

He raised an eyebrow. Well  _ that _ didn’t sound suspicious at all. “Do we even know where we’re headed?”

“East?” Therion turned to look at a scruffy looking blonde man that had spoken. “I asked around with the pilots and I think this is our final stop before we head off to wherever we’re being dropped off, but it’s felt like we’ve gone in a giant circle to be picking up people and now we’re gonna be headed east to where our final destination was.”

He wanted to snap at the man and ask him how the heck he knew where east was in this flying bucket when the final member of their group showed up. Therion stared blankly at the teen, an honest to goodness  _ teenager  _ who was probably barely old enough to leave home on her own, showed up. “Oh no.” Therion could feel the beginnings of a headache forming already.

“Heh, you’re a gloomy bunch aren’tchya,” the girl asked as she sat down on the empty seat across from Therion. “So does anyone know where we’re headed or what they want us for?”

“Blondie down there says east,” Therion said, gesturing to the man who had spoken earlier. “As for what they want, who knows.”

“Huh, so this is like one of those spy thrillers huh? Al’right I love spy thrillers!”

He wanted to snap at her that this wasn’t a movie when they were gruffly told to buckle up and the plane began to move. Wow, they did not want to stick around for longer than they needed to huh? 

……

The plane landed in a nondescript concrete building in the middle of forested nowhere. Therion followed blondie, whose name he learned was Alfyn and was  _ far too cheerful about this entire thing _ , out to the building. Primrose, the woman in the slinky halter dressed, paused for a moment when they stepped out. “It’s warm,” she noted simply and looked at the sky. 

“Heh, you’re right,” Alfyn said as he looked out at the distance and the forest. “Those look like palm trees in the distance, and lots of tropical plants too. Wherever we are, this sure ain’t the cold and dreary winter wonderland some of us are used to seeing around this time of year.”

“Are we on an island then,” Ophilia, a young woman with shoulder length blonde hair, asked. “I think I can hear the sound of waves in the distance.”

“Oh yeah! Now that you mention it-”

“-we must be on our way,” Olberic, a mountain of a man who had quickly grown to be Therion’s favorite on account of not making inane comments, interrupted. “It seems our friends do not want to be kept waiting.” Indeed, the guards did look a little peeved that the group had stopped on the asphalt. Interesting, Therion wondered what was so time sensitive that they couldn’t get the chance to explore and stretch their feet a little. 

Therion fell in step next to Primrose as they walked into the cavernous building. He shuddered. Something about this did not feel right at all. “So, what did you do that they decided you simply  _ had _ to be on this trip with us?”

Primrose gave him a withering side glance. “Who said I did anything? Maybe some of us have been on the right side of the law this entire time.” Therion smirked. Wow, Primrose caught onto him already, that was impressive. “It’s a bit hard not to notice that someone’s a pickpocket when your hands were suspiciously behind Cyrus’ back the whole time and Cyrus complained about his keys going missing when he got up.”

“A pickpocket? Please, don’t compare me to those petty thieves.”

Primrose made a soft noise as they were lead to a large ampitheater like room. “Didn’t know thieves had a ranking system. Anyway, someone showed up at a dance recital of mine and told me I was a very good dancer. Then they gave me a slip of paper with a place and time to show up, said it would be worth my while if I did.”

Therion raised an eyebrow. “That was it?”

Primrose nodded. “That was it.”

“Huh.” 

A loud gasp caught both their attention and they watched as Alfyn sprinted towards a podium in the center of the room. A podium that held eight metallic egg shaped  _ things _ the size of child’s head.  _ What in the world _ ? “Those are-”

“-Indeed Mr. Greengrass,” a voice smoothly cut in. “Those are unawakened mechas from various places around the world.” The group watched as an asian woman with a bob cut walked in from an unmarked door. “You and your friends have been gathered here because we believe you may awaken these young ones.”

Tressa, the teenager who had arrived last on the plane, gasped when the woman finished speaking. “You mean we get to become pilots?”

The woman smiled and nodded. “Indeed, you will become bonded to the mech that you awaken, and will pilot that mech.” 

Therion frowned and ignored the excited conversation that Tressa shared with Alfyn. “Oh? And how do you know that?”

“Let’s just say I have my ways.” Therion narrowed his eyes. He did  _ not _ trust the smirk on the woman’s face at all, but it seemed the others had approached the podium and began to place their hands on the mechs (or whatever they were). He watched as Tressa’s eyes lit up when the metal under her hands began to glow a faint orange and a light enveloped her. His eyes widened in alarm as the metal reacted and began to surge up her arms, enveloping her skin in a liquid metal-like substance. 

“Tressa!” Even as he shouted that he watched as the metallic substance receded and the egg shape began to grow etchings on its surface. He grimaced as he watched the same happen to the rest of his companions. 

“Now, Mr. Therion, I believe you are the last?”

Therion looked at the woman. The woman he did not trust one bit at all. Everyone else was looking at him, Tressa and Alfyn in confusion as to why he wasn’t up there with everyone else, Primrose and Olberic with sympathy in their eyes. That was it, he did  _ not _ need their sympathy. With a growl he marched forward to the podium and placed his hand on the last unmarked egg shape. “Is that-” His words were cut off with a yelp as the metal glowed purple and he felt  _ something _ enter him. “ _ What- _ ”

“- _ are you _ ,” a voice finished for him in his head. Therion froze. Another presence in his mind? Oh hell- “ _ Are you to be my pilot? Therion? _ ” There was a childish giggle. “ _ I have a feeling we’ll be good friends Therion. _ ” The presence weakened a bit as the metal beneath his hands stopped glowing and strange etchings formed on the metal. (And yet the presence did not fully disappear, he could feel that alien sensation full of childlike wonder in the back of his head, what on Earth?)

The woman smiled, a bright genuine smile, when she saw all the mechs had been awakened and accounted for. She nodded to herself. “Well done. Congratulations, all eight of you. You are now the international contingent of mech pilots that I have waited for. One that is  _ truly _ independent of the worldly affairs of the countries that lay claim to the mech eggs that landed on their soil.” There was a wicked gleam in her eyes as she spoke those words. “Now, if you’ll follow me, I’ll make sure you’re well adjusted to your new roles.”

Therion trailed behind the group as they followed the woman deeper into the building. Just what had he gotten himself into?


	2. Chapter 2

Michiko Ishida had a camera feed on her monitor. It was a gray square in the lower right corner just above the taskbar. Every few minutes it would switch between the room the girls were sleeping in, and the room the boys were sleeping in. The new recruits had gone to bed about an hour ago, but Michiko still had paperwork to go through to get their newest pilots in the system. 

Forget the hassle that was figuring out which groups they would be working with, this time there was much more paperwork than usual. Previously it had been done on a country by country basis, but this was the first international group that she had planned. As expected on the news of there being an international group, all the representatives of the various countries they were working with began to kick up a fuss. She had expected them to, so calming their fears wasn’t a big deal. (Or, at least, it wasn’t a bigger deal than usual.)

She was in the middle of writing a report when the first whispers echoed across her speakers. Michiko had ignored them, thinking it to be the wind outside her office, when the whispers turned into giggling and she caught hint of a name: Charity. She stopped typing and looked to her video link. One of the figures on the bed was moving, quite clearly awake. 

She enlarged the video and listened carefully to the sound coming across the speakers, adjusting her volume so the voices were clearer. “Shhh, Charity. If you’re so loud someone’s gonna hear.” More wiggling followed by soft giggling. “Whoa, you mean I’m the only one that can hear ya? Didn’t think I was that special.” Another moment of silence. “Aww, thank you, yer special to me as well.”

Michiko frowned, the gears quickly turning in her mind. It was clear that the figure in the bed, one Alfyn Greengrass from what she could make out, was communicating to his mech. But how? The mental link was weakened by distance and the mechs weren’t developed enough to form a strong mental bond ye- Her eyes widened and she quickly switched to a video feed of the mechs in their pods. One of the pods was glowing a light green. The pod was clearly marked with the word Charity at the bottom.

She inhaled shakily. It was as she had feared. Somehow, the mecha known as Charity had grown strong enough to create a permanent mental link with its pilot. There was one pilot who she knew of that had a strong link with his mecha like that. Without another glance at the video feed she picked up the phone and dialed the number for the Japanese division. “Hello,” she said once someone picked up on the other end. “I’d like to get into contact with Alex Matsumae, please.”

**Author's Note:**

> ... and this is the start of a mecha alternate universe that, if it gets updated, is only going to get updated sporadically. Sorry boys and girls  
> (If there are certain things you wanna see/know though, do comment below or send me a message)


End file.
